Imus Controversy Draws Focus to the Ladies

This morning I was checking out a sports talk show on a Little Rock radio station and a guy called up chiming in on the Imus situation. He was doing the usual "It's a disgrace" speak, mentioning that Imus and his crew had slandered black female athletes before. Sid Rosenburg once said that Venus and Serena Williams should be on the cover of National Geographic. On the heels of that the caller parethetically said, "Well, Venus should be." The hosts said nothing to correct him or separate themselves from the comment.

So much for sympathy.

Imus and his cohorts have also insulted other women on their show. They referred to national news correspondent Gwen Ifill as "a cleaning lady", they joked about Kylie Minogue's breast cancer and McGuirk is known for doing Maya Angelou impressions. Methinks there's a pattern and it goes beyond black female athletes.

Now I know that they target lots of folks, including men, on Imus's show. I've watched on MSNBC and I've heard the bits. Heck, I thought some of them were funny. As a broadcaster and as someone who's tried his hand at stand-up comedy, I can tell you that not every joke has to make the airwaves.

But why all the disrespect towards the ladies? And it's just not Imus. ESPN's Colin Cowherd went off majorly about female bodybuilders one day. Jim Rome never misses an opportunity to comment on the WNBA's insignificance. Remember that Rush Limbaugh referred to the then-victims (before anyone knew anything about the case) of the Duke lacrosse case as "some ho's?"

Some fellas are going to accuse me of pandering but it's clearly still a man's world. That's not a problem as long as the men in charge give the ladies their due respect. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, especially when she gains the upper hand. What's more is that it's a white American man's world. That's the world that believes that every woman should look like Reese Witherspoon or Halle Barry.

Certain women are not allowed in this world. Women who are too dark aren't allowed, women who are too muscular (sans steroids) are not allowed, women with facial features too defined are not allwed, women who are too old are not allowed and women who are full-figured are not allowed. And let's not forget that women who wear their authority well are not allowed, either. A lot of people refer to them as "bitches", by the way.

Of course not all men think this way. I take pride in the fact that I have a wife who knows how and when to slow me down. My mother was a very strong, intelligent and opinionated woman; and my sister doesn't take crap off anybody. Naturally I have always gravitated towards women whom I felt I could respect and not control. But a lot of men don't work that way.

Make no mistake about it. Imus and McGuirk's insults drew more focus than they wanted to the victims. And when America saw that the victims were intelligent, upright young women who were simply trying to celebrate their success, it made the rest of the country focus more on the "ho's" portion of the comment. Despite a woman's strength, she's still most likely an emotional creature.

You can say what you want about whoever you want, just don't talk about my mama or any of the other ladies in my life.